


Happy birthday, Lance

by torib0o



Series: Conversation in the Dark [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Birthday, Comfort, Happy Ending, M/M, it's a little angsty i can admit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-08 02:44:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11637300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torib0o/pseuds/torib0o
Summary: Lance reflects on his latest birthday.





	Happy birthday, Lance

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys,
> 
> It's been awhile since I've posted anything here, but I did a little something for Lance's birthday. This fic is unedited, but I'll go over it later.

The silence of the Castle of Lions seemed to scream in his ears as he leaned back on his hands. Bathed in the light of the star map, Lance exhaled heavily and shut his eyes.

The clocks around the Castle told him what he dreaded, what he'd hoped wouldn't pass until they returned to Earth, but the date was right and as he stared at the clock through the star map, he couldn't deny it. 

It was his birthday.

Lance would never forget the night he, Hunk, and Pidge snuck out of the Garrison, the night that launched him into a life that he wouldn't have believed possible if he wasn't experiencing it for himself. At times, it felt as though his days in space were part of a long, unending dream and he still pinched himself from time to time to make sure it was all real. Still, he concede, he could be in an elaborate lucid dream of his own creation.

As he sat staring at a map of the Milky Way, he rubbed his hands over his face and sighed loudly. It had been months since they were home, nearly an entire year, and now his birthday was upon them.

What had the Garrison told their families?

Did his own family believe them?

Were they searching as Pidge had searched for their family?

Lance's breath caught in his throat and he doubled over, dropping his head to his knees.

The Garrison hadn't hesitated to lie to Pidge's family when they claimed Matt and Commander Holt were dead, killed in an accident that was their own fault.

Lance understood why the Garrison couldn't tell his family what truly happened. He could only imagine his grandmother's reaction to hearing that her youngest grandchild climbed into a spacecraft in the form of giant blue lion and blasted into space along with two of his classmates, a pilot who'd been widely publicized as dead for a year, and a former classmate who had been expelled and was living in the desert.

He laughed quietly and shook his head at the thought. His grandmother would've smacked Commander Iverson without hesitation. 

"Ah, God," he mumbled as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Who're you talking too?"

Lance looked over his shoulder and smiled softly at the sight of Keith. "No one, I guess."

The red paladin sat beside him and looked up at the star map. "Earth again?" Keith asked.

Lance hummed and shrugged a shoulder. "Our galaxy," he mumbled. "Just...remembering that first day leaving home. Do you ever think about to it?"

"All the time," Keith admitted. 

"Just...we got off the ground, into space, and past Kerberos in...seconds. Was it even a full minute? It's just wild, you know?"

"I know," he said softly.

Lance looked at Keith before leaning against his shoulder. He shut his eyes and exhaled quietly as Keith pushed his hair back and kissed his forehead. 

"Are you obsessing again?"

"How can you not?" Lance mumbled. "How can you not think of it constantly?"

Keith shrugged. "I don't know. Before this I was living in a shack. Now that I'm here with you and everybody else, it's like I have a family. We're part of something amazing."

Lance let those words echo in his mind.

A family.

He had a family. He had older siblings, nieces and nephews, his parents, grandparents, and countless others. Lance had a big family and as the clock drifted into the next hour of the day, he knew that at least one member of his family was sitting up as he was, watching time drift by, wishing he was alive and praying for his soul.

He blinked away the cloudiness from his vision and sniffed to clear his nose.

"That's gross," Keith remarked as he gently flicked Lance's forehead. "You need a tissue or something?"

"No, I'm fine," he replied, rubbing his head. "Just thinking."

"What about?"

"Nothing," he said around a sigh. "Just the usual. Earth, the Garrison, Varadero Beach, my family."

"Ah," Keith mumbled as he slipped his arm around Lance's waist. 

"I mean, I think about my family everyday, but late at night, it just kind of slams into me."

"I get it. That's not something you can ignore. It's not something you should ignore, but you know you can talk to any of us about that. We all have important people that we miss."

Lance leaned against Keith and exhaled heavily. "I know you're right, but sometimes I don't really want to talk. I just wanna think about them and sit with those memories."

Keith stroked Lance's hair out of his face and heaved a sigh. "I know this is hard for you. I know how important your family is to you, but...have you accepted that we might never get back to Earth? Have you accepted that time moves differently down there. Sometimes I can't tell if it's been a week or a month being out here in space."

Lance bit at his lip and stared at the floor. "There are clocks," he mumbled. "Pidge set them up everywhere."

"I know they did. I don't really pay attention to those, though. I don't have any reason too. Lance, this life...being in space, this is the best thing I never hoped for."

"It's fun sometimes, but don't you ever just wish you were back on Earth with other humans? Don't you ever wish you could have a fucking hamburger? Don't you get tired of green goo and whatever other questionable shit we eat?! Don't you just wanna go home?!"

Keith lifted his head to look at Lance, red-faced and eyes glassy. 

"Well, first of all, I'm not all human, but I get what you mean," Keith said. "And yeah, I miss burgers, but I have a home here. I have a purpose."

"You'd have a purpose at home too," Lance mumbled as he curled up against Keith, shivering the slightest bit.

Keith kissed the top of Lance's head and hummed. "Thank you for saying that," he mumbled, though he knew it wasn't true. "I know being out here is hard for you, but...I hope that we're enough for you until we get back."

"You mean, 'if' we get back."

"No," Keith said. "I know we'll get back. I believe in us."

Lance smiled weakly. He knew Keith didn't truly mean it, knew that the other paladin was perfectly happy in space, but it warmed him to hear Keith's attempt at cheering him up. He sat up and kissed Keith gently.

"Thanks," Lance said softly. "You're amazing, you know that?"

Keith smirked. "Yeah, I do. Now, do you think we can go back to bed?"

Lance stood and stretched before he slipped his feet back into his lion slippers. When he turned around, Keith was already standing and he wrapped his arms around the red paladin's neck. Lance grinned when Keith arched a brow at him and kissed the other quickly.

“Thank you,” Lance whispered.

“No problem.” Keith kissed Lance’s forehead and hugged him close. “No one should be miserable on their birthday.”

Lance’s head snapped up as Keith began to lead him from the room. “You knew?”

“I’m not dense like some people,” Keith teased as he patted Lance’s side. Ignoring the other man’s squawking, Keith kissed him again. “I know being out here in space away from everyone you love hurts, but I will always support you.”

Lance smiled as he teared up. “Well, not everyone I love. Thank you, Keith.”

“Happy birthday, Lance.”


End file.
